Celtics
Jaylen Brown wasted no time informing the Nuggets that they need to use someone other than Jamal Murray to guard him.
The Celtics finished up their two-game slate in Abu Dhabi with a blowout 130-104 victory over the Nuggets, improving to 2-0 in the preseason.
Here are the takeaways.
1. The Celtics are, of course, required by the NBA and the conventions of professional sports to play their entire preseason slate, but if there’s one thing Friday and Sunday’s games showed us, this team doesn’t need much of a warm-up.
That should come as little surprise – the Celtics have most of their team back and a ton of well-prepared stars at the peak of their powers. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are in a sweet spot of skill and relative youth. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday are almost an embarrassment of riches, and they look as rock solid as you could hope and expect. Even the replacements for Kristaps Porzingis appear ready to go.
The Celtics have three more preseason games, all of which (in what we can probably fairly call a failure of the NBA’s schedule-makers) will take place over the course of four days, including a back-to-back next weekend. Presumably, Joe Mazzulla will run his starters for a few more quarters over the course of those 96 hours, but we all know what we’re looking at here, even if it’s just preseason: A championship team that brought everyone back and looks every bit as dangerous as last year.
2. Our second look at Tatum’s reworked jumper remained promising. Tatum went 3-for-7 from deep in 23 minutes, and he looks significantly more comfortable and confident than he did during the Olympics.
The adjustment Tatum made doesn’t appear to be anything groundbreaking: The enormous dip that used to take the ball nearly below waist now appears to drop to a much more natural spot, which speeds the entire shot up.
We try to avoid dipping too deeply into social media drama in these takeaways when possible, but the anti-Tatum sentiment online seems to be alive and well, and fans of opposing teams will make waves over his 6-for-14 shooting.
Let this serve as your permission to feel good about his performance, if you need it. The passing is still there. The physical drives will certainly still be there. He dropped in a couple of gorgeous turnaround jumpers. If the hitch is gone and the 3-point shot continues to fall, his first two outings have been as positive as one can hope from watching an All-NBA First Team player in preseason hoops.
3. Jaylen Brown, meanwhile, wasted no time informing the Nuggets that they need to use someone other than Jamal Murray to guard him.
On the ensuing possession, the Celtics posted Brown up against Murray again, and he found Luke Kornet with a nifty no-look pass that beat the collapsing Nuggets defense.
The Nuggets have plenty of defensive options for competing against Brown in games that matter (Aaron Gordon, for example, did not play on Sunday), but Murray is not one of them. Brown scored 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting in 23 minutes of action.
4. Sam Hauser appears to be experimenting with some things.
Hauser knocked down a couple of mid-range jumpers on Sunday, which could be an eye-opening addition to his game if he can confidently take a dribble or two to deal with an aggressive closeout.
Hauser finished with 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting and was a typically reliable outlet for the Celtics’ driving stars from behind the arc.
But the mid-range looks are intriguing. The league is now well aware of his shooting ability, and Hauser told reporters during training camp that improving his dribble pull-up game was a focus this offseason. Hauser will likely primarily be a floor-spacing 3-point shooter for his entire career, which is an incredibly valuable archetype, especially at his size.
But if he can both stretch and collapse the defense consistently, he becomes a really interesting player (on a relatively affordable contract).
5. Jordan Walsh played pretty well defensively once again – perhaps predictably, playing on a good team with a real game plan makes a big difference (as opposed to Summer League).
Walsh didn’t show a ton of offense on Sunday, but after watching him press in Summer League, plays like this in transition when he patiently waited for Hauser to dump it off to the far-superior shooter in transition was some progress.
There could be some competition around 10 or 11 in the Celtics’ rotation, especially early in the season before Kristaps Porzingis returns. At the moment, Walsh might have a slight lead over Jaden Springer for those minutes.
6. What does it mean if Xavier Tillman is just generally becoming a reliable 3-point shooter?
Tillman went 1-for-2 from deep on Sunday, and notably, his lone make came from the top of the key. That spot may have looked familiar to Celtics fans – Al Horford is also excellent from straight away, which gives the Celtics a valuable outlet for their drives and pick-and-rolls.
If Tillman can keep making open triples, the Celtics will have a lot of really nice options while they wait for Porzingis to return without putting too many early-season minutes on Horford’s 38-year-old body.
7. Speaking of Horford and his 38-year-old body, he was out once again on Sunday. To our earlier point: There is very little reason to play Horford in the preseason unless he needs it to ramp up.
8. Filed under “it’s preseason, but sheesh:” The Celtics finished with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 33 assists and 10 turnovers. Four of those turnovers were committed by the Celtics’ three two-way contract holders in the fourth quarter.
9. Congratulations to Baylor Scheierman, who made his first 3-pointer in a (real) Celtics uniform on Sunday after a very shaky start in his first game.
After making his first, Scheierman immediately hoisted another from the edge of the half-court logo. The young man certainly does not appear to lack confidence.
10. The Celtics will now return to the United States and will play at TD Garden for the first time since the court was covered in confetti on Saturday when they take on the 76ers in their third preseason game.
Boston.com Today
Sign up to receive the latest headlines in your inbox each morning.